What To Know:
- Sahara AI and Danal Fintech signed an MoU to apply agentic AI to stablecoin-based payment and settlement systems in South Korea.
- AI-driven tools for transaction monitoring, automation, compliance, and real-time risk management across large-scale payment infrastructure.
- The collaboration targets deployable systems as South Korea moves toward regulated won-denominated stablecoins and broader mainstream adoption.
Sahara AI has partnered with Danal Fintech, to push artificial intelligence and stablecoin payment adoption in South Korea. The two firms have signed a memorandum of understanding to explore how AI can be applied to stablecoin-based payment and settlement systems used in real-world financial activity.
Danal Fintech operates large-scale payment and settlement infrastructure that serves millions of users across South Korea. Sahara AI, meanwhile, is building agentic AI systems designed to support automation, real-time decision-making, and data-driven insight across complex financial environments.
Sahara AI, Danal Fintech Push South Korea’s Stablecoin Adoption
The partners plan to test how AI tools can improve transaction monitoring, system reliability, and risk controls as stablecoins move deeper into mainstream payments. The partnership aims for practical improvement, not the simple experiment for experimentation’s sake, as payment systems experience increasing volumes and tighter regulatory expectations. Early work will emphasize the analysis of transaction flows in particular, in an attempt to enhance visibility and compliance, the official statement states.
Monitoring powered by AI could facilitate early detection of anomalies as well as facilitate more accurate reporting across settlement layers. Automation of operations is another one of our focuses — especially on reconciliation, and day-to-day payment processing, where the friction is still high at scale due to long manual workflows. Risk management is also high on the list here.
The growth of stablecoin usage, along with the increase in fraud prevention and system resilience, require stronger solutions. With the advent of Sahara AI’s tools, risk analysis will be more dynamic and should allow payment infrastructure to react quickly to threats rather than react after the fact. Cross-border settlement is also part of the roadmap, reflecting the growing role of stablecoins in international payments.
Danal Fintech said the partnership is intended to move beyond research and into deployable systems. The company’s subsidiary, PayProtocol, is expected to work with Sahara AI on applied use cases and potential go-to-market initiatives. These may include consumer-facing integrations that combine payment infrastructure with AI-powered financial insight.
Sahara AI co-founder and chief operating officer Tyler Zhou described the partnership as a response to the always-on nature of modern financial infrastructure. He said stablecoin rails are accelerating that shift and creating demand for better operational tooling. Zhou added that Sahara AI plans to explore how its crypto market intelligence copilot, Sorin, could be introduced into consumer environments such as the Paycoin app, offering users clearer real-time context around markets and portfolio exposure without crossing into regulated advisory services.
The collaboration comes as South Korea moves closer to a formal framework for won-denominated stablecoins. The Digital Asset Basic Act, expected to be published soon, is set to expand the country’s regulatory perimeter beyond cryptocurrencies to include stablecoins, NFTs, and certain tokenized assets. The law will complement the existing Virtual Asset User Protection Act by introducing clearer rules for issuance, compliance, and oversight.
As regulation takes shape, financial groups and fintech platforms are testing new digital wallets designed to support stablecoin payments. Shinhan Financial has begun proof-of-concept work through a food delivery platform, while Woori Financial is exploring won-pegged stablecoin transactions via Samsung Wallet. Major fintech players such as Naver Pay, Kakao Pay, and Toss are also reported to be building related infrastructure.
The expansion, however, brings new challenges. Industry observers have warned that a rapid increase in crypto wallets could strain identity verification systems and complicate responsibility tracking across platforms. Concerns around anti-money laundering and cross-border compliance are growing as stablecoin payments extend beyond domestic use.
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